In A City Of The Future
by Xzeihoranth
Summary: Without hyperbole, probably the best thing I've written. Paris brings her no comfort; in fact it brings her something worse. The soothing touch of a lover is all that will calm her nerves now that Booker is gone. Elizabeth/FemOC.
1. Paris Of Course

The distant sounds of the city have changed somewhat since the last time Maxie heard them; perhaps that is what woke her. Or perhaps it's the fact that, when she rolls over with what feels like an inordinate amount of effort, there is no one lying beside her in the bed. She sits bolt upright, the last dust of sleep falling from her eyes. "Elizabeth?" she calls. There is no reply. The sliding glass door that leads to the balcony is open, which only worries her more. Maxie tosses aside the tangled wad of sheets she had been clutching to her chin and hurries to the door, already worrying about what she might find.

Elizabeth stands alone on the balcony, arms folded, back turned to the city of her dreams, trembling like a leaf on this beautiful autumn night. She looks up from the scuff-mark on the floor that she'd been scrutinizing, her eyes wide and frightened. Maxie doesn't say a word, just walks over to the other girl and hugs her tightly. It is simultaneously gratifying and heart-wrenching to feel the way Elizabeth almost claws at Maxie's back in her sorrow. "Bad night?" Maxie asks quietly. Elizabeth shakes her head. A flutter of tears splash onto the tile floor. "Let's get you in." She guides Elizabeth in through the doorway, using the hand that isn't wrapped tightly around the other girl's shoulders to slide the glass door shut, and sits her down on the edge of the bed. "Y' want somethin' to drink?" Maxie asks. Elizabeth shakes her head again. "Come on now. We've got alcohol, alcohol, alcohol, more alcohol, tap water, and alcohol." Elizabeth can't help but smile; she wonders if Maxie's ever been a bartender. She thinks of looking through the doors for an answer, but the thought of what she just saw makes her stomach clench.

Maxie comes over with a glass of rich dark liquid in each hand and a bottle of wine clutched between her ring and pinky fingers. She hands one of the glasses to Elizabeth, who takes a whiff and makes a face. "Ah, don't be like that. It ain't the drinkin' yer supposed to enjoy; it's getting drunk." Elizabeth still doesn't touch it. "All right, miss fancy pants. You try mine an' I'll try yours, in case y' still don't trust me." Maxie holds her glass to Elizabeth's lips, which purse exasperatedly. "On three now. Onnnnne, twooooooo, three." The other girl opens her mouth a smidge, just enough to let Maxie pour a little bit in. "Atta girl." Maxie says approvingly. Elizabeth's eyes water at the taste, and Maxie can't help but grin a little. "Now I'll try yours." She tilts the glass back and downs it all in one fell swoop. She coughs violently. "Urgh, that's...what year is that?" She squints at the bottle. "Ehh, that explains it." She almost tosses the bottle away, then remembers how much the room cost to rent and gingerly lowers it to the carpet.

"Ready to talk yet?" Elizabeth gazes vacantly at the far corner of the room. "Hey!" Maxie snaps her fingers in front of the other girl's face. "Anybody home?" She jumps and turns to Maxie with an apologetic look that just as suddenly turns into a look of sheer terror. She throws herself into Maxie's arms and starts to let out a series of strangled whimpers. "That's no way to do it, lass." Maxie reproaches her gently. "Whatever happened, it's only gonna get worse if you keep bottlin' it up. Just let it alllllll out now." So she does. The resulting onslaught of tears lasts a good five to ten minutes, which Maxie spends murmuring soothingly into Elizabeth's ear and kissing it alternately. She doesn't ask what the matter is: she figures she'll find out soon enough. When the sobbing dies down a little into grief-laden hiccups, she runs her fingers through Elizabeth's tangled hair and whispers, "How long've you been up?"

"Not *hic* not long. About an hour, maybe." the other girl chokes out.

"An hour? Why didn't y' wake me, sweet one?" Elizabeth starts to cry again at the term of endearment, and Maxie sighs quietly. "This might take a while."

* * *

Eventually, thanks in no small part to both Maxie and a couple more glasses of wine, Elizabeth had calmed down enough to begin her tale. "It was like a nightmare... Only it was _real_."

"How d' you reckon that? Dreams are dreams, and no amount of wishin's gonna make it otherwise."

"It wasn't a dream; it actually happened. Not to me, but someone else, a different me."

"Does it have somethin' t' do with those doors again?"

Elizabeth nods. "She...I killed him. Booker. But it wasn't him, it...it was Comstock. He didn't pull hard enough and she...oh god..." She looks as if she wants to be sick. Maxie watches her carefully, ready to rush her to the bathroom if it looks like she will. Instead, she breaths deeply and rhythmically, if a trifle shakily, and continues. "That wasn't even the end. We kept going... I was on my own, at the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by spliced-up _monsters_. I went back to Columbia for a lock of my own hair...and there were these things in Fink's lab... Songbird was there, only it wasn't him, it...it was some kind of aborted test subject. And the way it moved..." Maxie rubs her back slowly, unwilling or unable to interrupt. "It doesn't make any sense; I was dead, then I...stopped being dead and I had my finger back. Somehow that meant I couldn't see the doors; I was just _me_."

"Life doesn't make any sense; what makes you think dreams would?"

"It wasn't a dream, Maxie. Somewhere out there, there's someone just like me who..." Elizabeth's expression hardens suddenly. "I didn't even get to the worst part. What do you know about transorbital lobotomies?"

Maxie blanches. "I heard stories. One night when I was young, a few of the orderlies couldn't stop talking about 'em. When the doctors heard about it, they had me sit in a room with them for hours on end, talkin' about the noises and all the blood and the screamin'..."

Maxie is taken aback by the ferocity with which Elizabeth kisses her now. There is love there, but it's almost drowned beneath a rising tide of anger she didn't know Elizabeth even had. When the other girl pulls away, nipping at Maxie's bottom lip the way she used to do to her, she's breathing fast and hard. Her voice is low and hoarse with emotion. "He did that to her. Atlas. The 'voice of the people'. He put a steel peg up her nose and chipped away at her skull with a hammer. All so he could get something she didn't even _have_." They are still now, side by side, frozen in horror and helpless rage. "I felt every blow. Every time he hit that peg, a piece of my head came away with it too." Elizabeth stands up and paces the room, almost boiling over. "Do you want to know what she got out of it? Aside from something no human should ever have to endure? Nothing. He hit her with a wrench until she gave him a code by rights he should have already had. And then she died, in a dingy little corner of Rapture, alone and forgotten at the bottom of the sea. That little girl she was looking for, the one Atlas was about to lobotomize as well? She just disappeared after I died. You know what she was filled to bursting with? ADAM. You know what those spliced-up freaks want? You know what they NEED to survive? ADAM. Do you have any...idea how long a little girl would last in a place like that?" Maxie can't even speak. "Not real fucking long." Elizabeth spits.

* * *

Silence falls. Even the traffic seems to have stopped. The blood courses angrily through their veins until they can hardly stand it, and then the fury of the impotent, the powerless is just gone. In its place is a cold dead nothingness. Elizabeth collapses onto the bed beside Maxie, desperately wishing her anger could come back. But it doesn't. The emptiness inside is worse than the helpless rage. The bed creaks as Maxie flops down next to her. "You should find your dad again." she says abruptly.

The nonsequitur makes her head spin for a moment. "Why would I want to do that?" Elizabeth asks at last.

"Because you love him." Why does she always have to be right? "Sure y' hate him twice-over f'r leavin' ya the way he did, but y' love him too. Like I said, life doesn't make any sense."

"What does that have to do with..." Elizabeth doesn't even know how to describe it.

"Yer lookin' to be punished, luv. All that transorbital lobotomy nonsense, and whatever else that might've happened t' her; it's textbook psychology. REAL psychology, none of that crap they used t' try 'n' give me. Y' feel bad f'r what happened to Chen Lin, Daisy, hell even Johnson, and all those other people besides that got hurt, all cause of you." Maxie fumbles around with the sheets until she finds Elizabeth's hand and squeezes it tight. "None of that is on you. The only man to blame is Comstock, and he's dead, worse than dead. Y' may be some kind of god f'r all I know, magic powers, time and space and all that, but yer still human. Maybe you made all that stuff up in yer head cause you feel bad; cause yer still a good person, no matter what Comstock and Booker tried t' do."

Elizabeth starts to cry again. Maxie hugs her tight again; somewhat to her surprise, she's able to cry a little too. Soon the sheets are drenched with their mingling tears, and the world can breathe again.

* * *

After a while, Elizabeth presses her nose to Maxie's, presses her lips to Maxie's and stares into the older girl's brown eyes. "So I've been thinking about what you said..."

"Hmmm?" Maxie hums curiously.

"You might be onto something. Maybe I do need to be punished."

Maxie chuckles. "Is that a request?"

"If you're up for it."

"I've been dyin' to give you a spankin' since the day we met." She doesn't specify which time they met, in this life or in Maxie's last, and truth be told, neither one of them really cares. "Get over here, young lady!" Elizabeth lets out a delighted shriek and is soon wrestled over Maxie's lap. "Now, I think it's fair to say: You're a bit of a stubborn one, are ya not?" Maxie whispers huskily, rolling Elizabeth's skirt up inch by inch...

* * *

She helps her love find some new clothes at four o'clock in the morning, kisses her goodbye, nods when she says she'll be back soon, hoping that she really means it. She falls asleep on the king-size bed, knowing she'll be sore in the morning and not really giving a damn. She wakes up with a knock on the door, walks drearily over to it, peers into the peephole. He looks back like he knows she's there and says, "Miss McMurphy?" Her heart skips a beat but she opens it anyway and he says, "Telegram for you." He holds out a silver tray with an envelope upon it; she takes it and he walks away. She shuts and locks the door behind her (it never pays not to be careful), lifts up the flaps and takes out a small little piece of paper that reads, "Look up." So she does. 

She wakes up again a little while later and they're still there. "Who the fuck are you?" she asks. She's terrified; the room had been empty when she went to the door.

"You might say we're friends of the family."

"Or you might not. Would you?"

"I wouldn't. We should resist the urge to interfere for a little while; they're both rather good at holding a grudge."

"Are you lecturing me?"

"Not lecturing, brother; instructing."

"Reinstructing; you told me this before."

"Did I? Reminding then."

"As you like."

"He seems to think we ought to explain ourselves."

"If I think it, you do too."

"Don't be ridiculous; we're not _that_ far gone."

"Aren't we?"

"Certainly not."

"Then why do I sometimes..."

"Hear my voice inside your head?"

"Exact-"

"-ly. The answer's quite simple; my voice is your voice."

"Like two peas in a pod."

"Two wonderful wonderful peas in a wonderful wonderful pod."

"Are you trying to remind me of something?"

"It's nearly time to go."

"I'll pick the music this time."

"And I'll pick the clothes."

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

"Are we forgetting something?"

"...the girl." they say in unison and turn to the bewildered Maxie.

"They should be back any moment."

"Relatively speaking."

"Relative to you."

"You might want to freshen up first; DeWitt's a bit of an old-fashioned man."

"A bit of an idiot, more like."

"Not everyone can be as brilliant as you are."

"Not yet at any rate."

The sun flashes through a crack in the curtains, and when Maxie's dazzled eyes clear, the redheads are nowhere to be found. She is just about to wonder what the devil is going on (though not in those exact words) when there is a familiar knock upon the door...

* * *

Author's note:

This takes place several chapters after where we left off in Tales From A Kinder World. Maxie McMurphy belongs to the kickass CirqueDuInsanity on Tumblr (headmistress of the FuckYeah-BioShockInfinite group).

Where is Booker in all of this, you ask? How did Elizabeth and Miss McMurphy meet up/hook up? All this and more on the next exciting episode of Tales From A Kinder World! (Wait, next next next next next episode, so in another 5 chapters this might all make sense.)


	2. Before the Dream

**The previous day...**

Elizabeth's head lolled blissfully as she relaxed in the tub. She knew she shouldn't take too long: Maxie still needed her turn, and then they really ought to get going; the reservation was for 6:00. But she really couldn't help it. Whenever she tried to get up, the water rippled over her in just the right way as to drain any energy she had, so that all she could do was keep lying there.

She needed this more than she could have possibly imagined. After six months of hell and finally learning the truth, the truth about _everything_, she should probably be amazed that she was even able to move, let alone walk with Booker through the Sea and watch him go...no. That doesn't bear thinking about. Not yet.

She had needed Maxie more than she'd known as well. At one point she might have called it fate that they'd happened to be walking down the same street in the same city at the same time in the same world, but now... What was fate to her? Had she done this? Used the last of her power just before being wiped out of existence to bring her lover back, to bring her to the one place and the one person with whom she could be happy?

Maybe one day she would find out. She had nothing but time, after all.

There was a knock at the door. "Y' all done in there?" Maxie called.

"Just a second!" Elizabeth called back, struggling out of the limpid lukewarm water. She sauntered to the door, more for her own benefit than anyone else's, heedless of the trail of water she left in her wake.

Maxie was surprised to say the least, but also rather pleased, when Elizabeth came to the door wearing nothing but her skin. "The bathtub's just big enough for the both of us." her girlfriend said casually.

"And here I thought you were goin' to try for a western." Maxie retorted. "'This tub ain't big enough fer the two of us!'" The combination of a hopelessly exaggerated Texas accent and her own natural brogue nearly brought Elizabeth to tears of laughter.

When she had recovered sufficiently several seconds later, she picked up right where they'd left off without missing a beat. "I don't have any guns though." She mimed drawing a sidearm and blasting an imaginary hat off Maxie's head in a single shot.

"Is that so?" Maxie said, her eyes drifting down meaningfully to chest level. Elizabeth followed her gaze and blushed prettily. "So you _are_ happy t' see me!" Maxie grinned.

"When am I not?" Elizabeth said, grabbing her girlfriend by the wrist and pulling her into the bathroom with her. Luckily for the both of them, Maxie hadn't put on her good clothes just yet.

* * *

They arrived at the restaurant promptly at 6, despite the unexpected detour neither of them regretted taking. The waiter showed them to their table, waiting obligingly as they stopped to admire the décor. Dark velvet curtains, beautifully detailed paintings on the wall, and a plush carpet that fought their newly-bought heels with every step they took.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Elizabeth asked as they were seated.

"Is it everything you hoped for?" Maxie asked in response.

"It's rude to answer a question with another one." Elizabeth said.

"I can be rude if I want. Or did I not make that clear earlier?" Maxie said slyly. Elizabeth buried her face in her napkin in embarrassment, making Maxie cackle with glee. "Yer always so prim an' proper, but you're an animal between the sheets love."

"Maxie...!" Elizabeth hissed, not sure if she was trying to scold her or egg her on. She had such a way with words, and a talented tongue too. Elizabeth turned even redder at that.

"All right," Maxie sighed reluctantly, unaware of the unusually detailed thoughts racing through Elizabeth's mind. "I'll keep it in the bedroom." She glanced briefly at the menu, but put it aside to get something off her chest. She leaned forward and whispered, "Did I ever tell you how beautiful y' are?"

"Once or twice..." Elizabeth said, hoping nonetheless that she'd say it again.

"Good." Maxie said, settling back in her chair. "Because you are. You are _the_ most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on."

"Really? What about the Tower? What about the Louvre? What about-"

"A big metal shaft stickin' out of the ground an' abstract art don't mean a thing to me. You do."

Elizabeth dove behind the menu, though she was certain that the blush on her face had spread to her ears. Maxie smiled and kept going. "But you're lookin' especially lovely tonight. That lovely black dress an' those gloves... An' I love what you've done with your hair. Maybe it's the anarchist in me, but I can't help wantin' to mess it up bad."

"Are you trying to make me cry?" Elizabeth whispered.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Maxie asked. "Y' can't keep bottlin' it up f'rever, love. All that anger, that guilt; it'll ruin your mind."

"I'm already ruined." she said, clearing her throat and wiping away her tears. "And we all know who to blame, right?"

They ordered and ate in silence. The food was to die for, but neither of them could enjoy it like it deserved. They both couldn't help wondering how best to make it up to their significant other. Love, however; love found a way.

* * *

They were sitting at the bar when the music began. Typical Parisian fare though it might have been (it began with an accordion after all), it nonetheless struck a chord with the despondent lovers. Elizabeth's ears almost visibly perked up as she recognized the tempo for what it was: a tango. She turned to Maxie. "May I have this dance?" she asked.

"I never learned how." Maxie said gloomily.

"I'll teach you. Just follow my lead."

"Isn't that what I've been doin'?" She took Elizabeth's hand and let herself be guided out onto the floor.

She was so passionate, so desperate to enjoy this moment for what it was, that Maxie was almost literally swept off her feet. "You've done this before?" she asked after Elizabeth dipped her low to the ground.

"Just by myself." Elizabeth admitted. "I never had a...partner before."

"You got me." Maxie offered.

"I do, don't I?" Elizabeth said, pulling her close.

"Watch the hands, love." Maxie said suddenly with a wry smile. "We're in public."

"That's never stopped you before. Besides my hands weren't anywhere near your...uh..."

"Yes?" Maxie prompted.

"You know..." Elizabeth stumbled around the words, but not around the dance floor.

"Suppose for the sake of argument I didn't know." Maxie murmured into Elizabeth's ear. "What then?"

"You want me to talk...dirty to you in the middle of a club?" Elizabeth whispered nervously.

"Nah. Where's the fun in that? I want you t' talk dirty to me back in the hotel room."

Elizabeth blushed again. "I might." she said at last. "But first I need to freshen up." Her timing, as usual, was immaculate; the song was just coming to a close. As applause filled the air, Maxie watched Elizabeth hurry off, noting the direction she was headed: away from the bathrooms instead of toward them...

* * *

She returned a few minutes later. "Where were you then?" Maxie asked.

"I wanted to freshen up. Didn't I tell you?" Elizabeth said.

"Aye, that y' did. But you're a liar." Elizabeth froze. "That wasn't the way t' the bathrooms y' took. So I'll ask again: where were you?" Maxie looked over and let a little twinkle into her eye to show that she wasn't being serious.

Elizabeth smiled, in both relief and amusement. "I hired a band."

"An' why'd y' do that?"

"Because the man in charge of the music here didn't have the song I wanted him to play."

"Ahh." Maxie took a sip of her drink. "So where'd you get them from?"  
"You sure you want to know?" Elizabeth asked.

"All right then. Surprise me." Maxie purred. The alcohol she was drinking was top-notch stuff.

"That's the idea." Elizabeth said, patting her girlfriend on the back. "Won't be a sec."

* * *

The lights dimmed. "Is it closin' time already?" Maxie wondered. Then, as the spotlight turned on behind her, she remembered the surprise. She turned and saw Elizabeth standing in front of a microphone, looking nervous and wonderful all at once.

She began to sing, soft and low.

* * *

_See the pyramids along the Nile..._  
_Watch the sunrise from a tropic isle..._  
_Just remember, darling, all the while..._  
_You belong to me._

_See the market place in old Algier..._  
_Send me photographs and souvenirs..._  
_Just remember when a dream appears_  
_You belong to me._

_I'd be so alone without you._  
_Maybe you'd be lonesome too, and blue._

_Fly the ocean in a silver plane..._  
_See the jungle when it's wet with rain..._  
_Just remember till you're home again..._  
_You belong to me._

_I'd be so alone without you._  
_Maybe you'd be lonesome too, and blue._

_Fly the ocean in a silver plane..._  
_See the jungle when it's wet with rain..._  
_Just remember till you're home again..._  
_You belong to me._

* * *

There was hardly a dry eye in the house when she finished. Over the applause (which lasted a solid minute and a half), Elizabeth left the stage and kissed her lover full on the mouth. "Let's go home." she whispered into Maxie's ear. And they did.


End file.
